I like to think of myself as a fair and open-minded person, always open to dialogue and discussion with those of differing political opinions. As a result, I am a great fan of free speech and used to spend a lot of time in spaces dedicated to preserving free speech in its truest form. However, there are, at the end of the day, some people I just cannot tolerate, and it greatly disheartens me to constantly encounter these types of people.
I’m sure all other fair-minded intellectuals have had the same experience: You go into a space known for its advocacy for free speech hoping to engage in stimulating and reasonable debate with people with whom you disagree about politics but agree with about everything else, but instead find yourself surrounded by people with whom you share nothing.
To be very clear, I am ardently against those who try to silence those who they view as morally, politically or even “factually” wrong — I would never discredit someone for something so shallow — but the line must be drawn somewhere, and I draw the line at having to listen to people I find annoying.
I used to keep a list of all the unlikable people I encountered on such occasions, and I would love to share it with you now, but this is such a persistent problem that when I tried to import the list, my word processor crashed. To give you an idea though, I’ll just say that it started with “Architectural Digest readers,” ended with “Zumba instructors” and hit such highlights as “dental hygienists,” “former theater kids” and “origami enthusiasts.”
One can imagine the horrors I’ve gone through. Luckily though, I have not given up hope on free speech. That is why, if you resonate with my plight, contact me so I can add you to my private Discord server tirelessly operating on the ideals of open dialogue across communities in an increasingly divided America. Only if I can tolerate you, of course.